Elastic border band and ruffle and method of producing same



June 30, 1925.

I M. L. GRAY ELASTIC BORDER BAND AND RUFFLE AND METHOD'OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Feb. 21, 1923 -3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmmmmmmm 5Q I V? $3 \\4 Jim/en for:

by MW W 1 o zf-orneya June 30, 1925. 1,544,312

GRAY ELASTIC BORDER BAND R 'FFLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Feb. 1, 1923 3 shefs sheet 2 4 4 1/ Int/endow x. Q 5y June 30, 1925. 1,544,312

M. L. GRAY IIL ASTIC BORDER BAND AND RUFFLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Fi1ed Feb. 21, 1923 s She ets-She et s I fn /ven -oor: Y WW1? by MW. .cflttprneys:

Patented June 30, 1925.

PATENT oFF-lca.

MATTHEW L. GRAY, O'F CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PLYMOUTH RUBBER COMPANY, nm, or CANTON, SETTS.

ELASTIC BORDER BAND AND RUFFLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- SAME.

Application filed February 21, 1923. Serial No. 620,494.

To all whom it may oonce'm:

Be it known that I, MA'rrHEw L. GRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Canton, county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Elastic Border in which it is desired to" provide the article the Bands and Rufiles and Methods of Producing Same, of which the following is a speci fication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. The invention relates to a new and useful improvement in combined elasticborder band and rufiie for garments or other ar= ticles, and method of producing the same. The invention has especialreference to india rubber garments, in which it is desired to provide an elastic binding for the several openings for the legs, arms, wrist or waist; also to such articles, for instance, as aprons,

with a ruflie on the lower-edge.

In the manufacture of babies rubber pants, for instance, it is important to have the waist and'leg openings fit snugly when the garment is on the child, and to have an elastic band or binding around the opening,

so that the garment can easily be put on and ofl, yet .have a snug fit when it is on without the use of strings vor other fasten- 111 s.

is heretofore made, such garments have been formed with an inelastic band around the waist, or around the cuff of the leg opening, in such manner as to leave a runway for an elastic cord, then the rubber 1s cured, then after the curing an 'elastlc cord is inserted' in this opening and theends of the cord fastened together under tension, so that the contraction of the cord after the ends are fastened together will pucker up the cuff'or waist'opening. Sometimes the sewed ends of the cord break apart, or the cord breaks in the middle, or it loses its elasticity. In such cases in the careless handlingof the garment, in putting on or off, if the two opposite sides of the opening are pulled in opposite directions, as though to stretch it, the elasticity being already J gone,,the result will be to tear the garment,

as the rubber .will tear easily where there is no give to it.

It is also desirable for ornamental purposes to have frilled or ruffled borders around the openings, In the case of aprons or'other like articles, it'is desirable to have a frilled border. U One,object of the present invention is to produce an elastic binder for the several openings of the garment or for the edge of an apron, or'other article, which shall be integral with the article itself. Another object of the invention is to so construct the garment, or other article, that in the manufacture of the article the frill will be produced by the contraction of the elastic band during the manufacture.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description when taken n connection withthe accompanying drawlugs, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

the drawings, Figures 1 to 7 represent lnvention as embodied in a pair of rub-- ber baby pants in the process of making the same.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a garment embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a strip of uncured rubber, such as used to form an elastic band.

Fig. 3, is anend elevation showing a pair of crimping rolls with the strip and the garment passing through the rolls to crim the strip, the action of the rolls serving a so to cause the strip to adhere to the garment.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of (the parts shown in Fig. 3. p Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

.Fig. 6 is a plan view of a sheet of india rubber sheeting cut in the form of a pattern intended for making a pairof rubber pants. Fig. 7 is a view showing the sheet doubled upon itself and folded at the sides to the form of the garment, before the rubber strip. is incorporated in the: body ortion around the waist and leg openings, t e side seams also being closed.

Fig. 8 is a view of a' rubber apron to which a ruflle is to be' applied.

Fig. 9 .'s a viewof a strip of uncured rubber which is to form a part of the ruflle. Fig. 10 is a view of astrip of partiall cured rubber of less width and less length than the strip shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a view showing the narrower,

shorter-strip and 11 Wider, longer strip secured together after the shorter strip has been stretched and crimped onto the wider stri y V Fig. 12 shows the ruffled combined strips attached to the-border of the apron.

the drawings, there is Referring now to represented at A a piece of rubber sheeting blank which has been folded over, and they cated at 8.

' between crimping ro to the inner are seamed together by strips 2 of uncured rubber. The details of this are not necessary to explain as they do not constitute a part of the present invention;

I The arment, as thus far formed, has a waist pening 3 at the top and two leg open' gs 4.4 at the. opposite lower corners. It is now desirable to draw in or contract the waist opening and the two leg openings and to make them elastic, so that all of the openings may readily be stretched open wider to permitthe garment to be put onto the child and to .contract and close snugly around the waist and legs after the garment is put on. It is also desirable for ornamental purposes to provide a ruflie. at the edges of the several openings. Y

The method of treating each one 9f the several openings is the same. For convenience of description we shall consider the waist opening. This is done by taking a strip of rubber 5. which has first been partially cured, say for about fifteen minutes,

'suflicient to give it a degree of resiliency, then stretchingit and holding it under tension in engagement running the combined garment and strip lls 6- 7, as shown in Fi res 3 and 4 while .the strip is still un r heavier gauge than the body of the article so as to produce greater tensile strength.

As is, well known, the crimping rolls on the partially cured strip 5, pressing it against the uncured rubber of the waist band, will cause the strip to strongly adhere to the waist band. As fast as it is' passed out through the rolls the tension may be released on that portion and the contraction of the strip 5, when the tension is released, will cause the puckeringup or ruffling of the waist band portion 0 the garment It is preferable to have the strip 5 secured face of the waist band, and for The blank is then folded with the waist band a -little below the edge of the opening and tension. Preferably, the strip 5 is ofpressure of the forming the ruffles, as indi-' been crimped to the waist band, the. two

4 will be similarly treated,

leg openings \producing the rufiles 8 and elastic band 5. The whole garment will then be treated to the full curing process and is ready for use,

The strip 5 thus giveseto the border of opening the desired elasticity while the body of the garment is relatively inelastic, and yet the elastic strip is practically integral with the body of the garment. y

In applying the invention'to an apron to produce a frill on the edge, as illustrated in Figures 8 to 12, a narrow strip 10, say onehalf inch wide, "of partially cured rubber,

the i is applied to a wider strip 11, say one inch wide, of uncured rubber, so that a portion of, the widestrip will be covered by the narrow strip of partiallycured rubber and a portion of the uncured strip will be exposed. The partially cured strip is held at this time under tension, and while the partially cured strip. is held superimposed upon the uncured strip the,two are run throu h crimping rolls. This causes the partia y cured strip to adhere to the uncured stri and will crimp both strips. As fast as it passes through" the crimping rolls the contraction of the partially cured strip will frill the'wider uncured strip, as shown in Fi re 11, forming the ruifles 11 in the strip 11, the strip 10 being crimped as shown The portion. of the frilled' strip, to which the half cured strip is attached, is then applied to the border of an apron. 12 and again run through crimping rolls, which will cause apronwhich is 'stillin its raw state. The apron with the attached ruflle will then be put through the curing process, which will make the apron and the ruflled member i ntegral for all intents and purposes.

It will be seen that by the process described, the elastic strip, by being partially cured before it is applied to the article which has not been cured at all and then goes through the curing process with the article itself, is subjected to the curing process a longtlar total period than the article itself. This ardens the strip and gives it greater durability.

the ruflled strip toadhere to the I In addition \to the advantages already set forthin a glarlnent constructed in accordance th' n e ti n;- he e is a g at.

saving in material, especially. in the material of the strip. Under the old method the strip has to be of the same length as the circumference of the waist band or pant leg opening before the waist band or leg opening is contracted; By my process the strip has to be only of the length of the waist band when it is under tension and its normal length need be only the length required to go around the contracted waist band or pant leg opening, say about one fourth of the length. There is, therefore, a saving in material of about three-fourths.

There is also the saving of the cost of the elastic cord and the saving of the time required in threading the elastic cord.

As already stated, there is greater strength to the elastic band made in accordance with my invention, because of the danger in the old way of the cord breaking apart where the two ends are sewed together, which is sometimes done carelessly.

What I claim is 1. The method of forming a sheet'rubber article withan elastic band consisting of applying a strip of partially cured rubber under tL-nsion to the rubber body of the article while the said body is in an uncured state and not under tension, applying pressure to the uncured body of the article and the superimposed strip while the strip is under tension to cause the strip and body to adhere together, then relieving the pressure and tension then fully curing the combined body portion and strip.

2. The method of forming an elastic band around an opening in a rubber garment consisting of applying to the rubber body portion around the edge of the opening while the said body is in an uncured state and substantially inelastic and not under tension, a strip of rubber under tension which has already been partially cured sufficiently to render it elastic, pressing together the un-.

state and substantially inelastic and notunder tension to cause the strip and article to adhere together, then relieving the presv 

